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The capture of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein last week has apparently produced more positive effects than initially believed, as the Bush administration is reporting a number of extraneous benefits caused by his capture, a press conference yesterday revealed.

Hussein, who was found by U.S. forces in a "snake hole", was certainly a symbol of Iraqi resistance to American occupation, but was likely not responsible for coordinating the majority of insurgent attacks, say various reports, demonstrating that his capture was largely symbolic and carrying a relatively low amount of "real-world" ramifications. However, at the press conference, President Bush cited new trends that indicate his capture means "much, much more".

"For starters, America is much, much safer now that Mr. Hussein is in captivity," Bush said proudly. "As he wandered around Iraq, hiding from our soldiers and growing more and more disoriented and removed from his former subjects, Saddam was preparing an attack on our soil, one that probably included throwing a small pile of rocks we found near his snake hole. I know these rocks probably kept Americans up many nights these past few nights, myself included."

Bush also assured Americans that Hussein's capture means a great victory in the war against terror.

"When Saddam was captured, most of the world's terrorists shut down and instantly died," the President explained. "This is a common occurrence in terrorists when their leader, or 'mothership', is destroyed. It's all very scientific."

When asked about the possibility of finding Osama bin Laden, the man believed to be responsible for the attacks on September 11th, 2001 and arguably of more danger to the U.S., Bush seemed confused.

"Osama who?" he said, furrowing his brow. "I'm sorry, I don't recognize that name. You're probably thinking of Saddam Hussein, the man we've been after all along."

Another unexpected boon of Hussein's capture is the expected rapid decline of most of the world's diseases, according to Bush.

"Few people realized that Saddam Hussein being out there actually caused millions of people to have horrible diseases, such as AIDS, West Nile Virus, and homosexuality," he said. "With Mr. Saddam in captivity, we expect most people with those diseases to quickly cure themselves."

As expected, reaction to these latest facts concerned Saddam's capture were overwhelmingly positive.

"This is just more evidence for me that George W. Bush is the greatest President this country has ever had," stated one man. "Even better than Ronald Reagan."

"You know, I vaguely remember some other man and terrorist group being responsible for the attacks on our country and threat to our security, not Iraq," said a California woman with a puzzled look on her face. "But I guess --"

The woman was then cut off as she was abruptly run over by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Hummer, shouting, "You remember nothing! Shut your liberal mouth!"

And encouraging for Bush is his rising approval ratings since the capture -- a good sign for the 2004 election.

"The capture of Saddam Hussein is just enough to make me forget about Bush's economic blunders, war on false pretenses, restriction of valuable stem cell research, fostering of animosity towards America from a number of other nations, and record debt spending," said a beaming Ohio man. "What a guy!"

"Saddam Hussein was the cause of most of the world's problems," stated another man. "Now that he's caught, I expect utopia to be arriving shortly."

Iraqi Oil Minister says the oil contracts that his ministry recently signed with foreign companies do not need Parliament approval.

Hussein Balo, the head of the Oil and Gas Committee in Iraqi Parliament, revealed that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sent a secret and personal letter to the Parliament Speaker. "The Oil and Gas Committee received a personal and secret letter from Nuri Al-Maliki sent to the Parliament's presidency. The Prime Minister, in his letter, accuses the committee and members who want to question Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani of hampering oil investment plans in the country," said Balo

Furthermore, Balo pointed out that there is an agreement between Maliki and Parliament speaker Iyad Samaraie to hinder any questioning of Shahristani.

For his part, Balo has accused the Prime Minister of hampering Parliament works. "What the Iraqi Prime Minister is doing is against all his promises to combat corruption in the country," he said.

A number of MPs have summoned Shahristani to be questioned about his performance and the legitimacy of the contacts he signed with a number of foreign oil companies. The MPs said if they are not satisfied with Shahristani's answers, they will gather petitions to lift his immunity.

Iraq formally signed a deal with Britain's BP and China's CNPC on Tuesday to almost triple production in a giant southern oilfield. "The two companies will invest $50 billion in the project," Shahristani told reporters.

The 20-year contract is expected to boost production at the Rumaila field from the current 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to around 2.8 million bpd within its first six years, the minister said. Rumaila is already integral to Iraq's oil output, contributing almost half of the nation's current production of around 2.5 million bpd, and is estimated to hold further reserves of 17.7 billion barrels.

In return for their enormous investment, BP and CNPC have agreed to accept payment of $2 per additional barrel produced at Rumaila. "We have shown we can attract international companies to invest in Iraq and boost production through service contracts," Shahristani said. "They will not have a share of Iraqi oil and our country will have total control over production?."

Moreover, he added that the contracts do not need Parliament's agreement. "They [the contracts] only need the conformity of the council of ministries," he noted.

Regarding the MPs' statements concerning the contracts, he said: "Their statements are politically motivated and I am not ready to answer them."

URGENT / Iraqi journalist throws shoes at shoe-thrower in ParisDecember 1, 2009 - 05:16:58BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: An Iraqi journalist said on Tuesday that he threw his shoes at the famous Muntather al-Zaydi, a local TV reporter who threw a pair of shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad last year, during his visit to Paris.

“I threw my pair of shoes at al-Zaydi today (Dec. 1) during a conference while he was talking about his famous incident,” Seif al-Khayat told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“His behavior with Bush caused Arab and Iraqi journalists to feel shame,” he explained, asserting that what he had done has noting to do with journalism and its important message.

Serb Parliamentarian Copies Bush Shoe ThrowerBelgrade | 26 November 2009 | Bojana BarlovacSerbian Parliament in sessionThursday's session of Serbia's Parliament was interrupted after an opposition parliamentarian Gordana Pop-Lazic threw her shoes at Deputy Speaker Gordana Comic......."This is a legitimate manner of protest of an MP who represents the people, and who is not able to tell parliament what the people think," Pop-Lazic added

Officials in the southern Iraqi province of Basra have lifted a four-month-old ban on alcohol in a move hailed as an affirmation of personal freedoms in the country's second-largest city, a provincial spokesman said Tuesday.

The spokesman for the Basra provincial council, Hashim Aleibi, said the decision came after opponents argued the ban violated constitutional rights for personal choice and denied non-Muslims the ability to buy and consume liquor.

It also showed the weakened voice of Shiite hard-liners who held control over much of Basra until an Iraqi-led offensive in early 2008......

Expats and young locals give the Region a livelier nighttime atmosphere.......

The region, with more than 50% of its population under the age of 21 and an expatriate community estimated between 250,000 and 300,000 by some unofficial sources, is seeing positive growth in its nightlife, according to most executives in the business.

After 2003, dozens of new bars, nightclubs, and posh restaurants with international cuisine opened their doors in the regional capital of Erbil. The city has no less than 60 liquor stores as of today. Places with catchy names such as Monza, Deutsche Hof, T-Bar, Beirut Pub, Marina, and Tarin are one of the most popular late-night spots in the transforming city of around 2 million inhabitants, with many other outlets to follow soon.........

Trench on Iraqi-Syrian bordersDecember 10, 2009 - 12:27:06ANBAR / Aswat al-Iraq: Commander of the border guards of the second region in Anbar announced on Thursday the end of the trench between Iraq and Syria.

“Border guards have finalized the digging of the trench on the Iraqi-Syrian borders at a length of 149 kilometers and 3 meters depth,” Brig. Haqi Ismail told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The trench aims at preventing infiltration operations through the Iraqi-Syrian borders as the parliamentary elections, scheduled on March 7, 2010, approach,” he explained

Iran suspends pilgrimages January 18, 2010TEHRAN: Iran has suspended pilgrimages to holy places in Saudi until the kingdom's religious police end their "appalling behaviour" towards Iranian pilgrims, an official said yesterday. "The reason for the suspension is the way the agents of the Saudi Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have been dealing with our pilgrims," the head of public relations of the Iranian Haj and pilgrimage organisation Abdollah Nassiri said.

Islamic games axed over 'Persian Gulf'Published Date: January 18, 2010

RIYADH: The Riyadh-based Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation yesterday called off the athletic games planned for Tehran in April because of Iran's use of the term "Persian Gulf" on winners' medals. The ISSF, headed by Saudi Olympic Federation president Prince Sultan bin Fahd, said after an emergency board meeting that Iran's local organising committee "unilaterally took some decisions without asking the federation by writing some slogans on the medals and pamphlets of the games".

Iran "did not abide by the rules of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation" and "did not follow the decisions taken by the general assembly of the federation at a previous meeting in Riyadh," it said in a statement. The games were being called off because of the dispute, the ISSF said. Iran's committee for the games criticised the decision through its website. "In spite of convincing arguments made to the ISSF executive committee (by Iran's committee), regrettably and without presenting any logical reasons, the ISSF committee decided not to hold the games with Iran as the host," it said.............

Debate Among Saudi Scholars: Are the Dark-Eyed Virgins For Sensual Pleasure?

On June 11, 2010, Dr. Anwar Bin Majid 'Ishqi, head of the Saudi Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies, published an article on the issue of whether the dwellers of Paradise engage in sexual relations. The article was published in Al-Risala, the weekly supplement of the Saudi daily Al-Madina, under the title "Paradise is Above Sex; The Dark Eyed Virgins are Not for Sensual Pleasure." In it, Dr. 'Ishqi explains that he took up the issue of sex in Paradise for two reasons. First, because terrorists make extensive use of it in the recruitment of young people: they incite these impressionable youths to carry out suicide operations by promising them that their reward will be to enjoy sex with the virgins of Paradise. The second reason, he says, is that many religious scholars – including prominent ones – believe that Paradise offers actual sexual pleasures.

'Ishqi rejects this notion as absurd and harmful. He says that it is a source of contempt for Muslims, and also a travesty of Islam, because the sexual pleasures mentioned in the Koran are not meant to be understood as physical pleasures but as spiritual ones. 'Ishqi contends that in Paradise people have no sexual desires, and that their bodies even lack sexual organs, because they have no need for them.

(uffda, hmmmm....kanskje ingen vits i å konvertere? )

'Ishqi's article sparked heated responses from several Saudi clerics, who argue that both the Koran and the Hadith provide extensive evidence that the dwellers of Paradise do enjoy physical pleasures, including sex. .......

Basra, Oct. 31 (AKnews) - The director of Information Department of the Iraqi Ports directorate stated on Saturday that the private yacht of the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will arrive to the Umm Qasr port south of Basra today, carrying the Iraqi Transport Minister Amir Abdul-Jabbar.

Anmar al-Safi told AKnews that the yacht will arrive on Sunday coming from the United Arab Emirates after it was in France and then Greece where it was rehabilitated.

"A celebration will be made when the yacht arrives to the port of Umm Qasr, and it will be called Naseem al-Basra (Basra Breeze).”

This move comes as part of a campaign done by the Iraqi government to account and regain the property of the former Iraqi president.

The former president asked for this yacht when he came to power in Baghdad in 1979 and "Hilzinger Firefet" Navy Danish company implemented the project, it was delivered in 1981 during the war with Iran, to protect the yacht from the Iranian bombing, it was transferred to Jeddah Saudi port in the Red Sea in 1986.

The yacht was originally named as "Saddam's Qadissiya," but most of the time it was also called "Ocean Breeze" and now it is known as "Basra Breeze".

The price of the yacht reaches to $ 35 million, at a length of 82m, its water taps are made of gold, including a small theater, and landing for a helicopter, it is equipped with rocket launchers, and has a secret passage leading to a small submarine to escape when necessary.

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Iraqi women’s football team was thrashed 0/15 by the Egyptians in its second loss in the Arab Women’s Football Cup (Arabia 2010), according to a source in the Iraqi delegation on Friday.

“The Egyptian women footballers, who had defeated Lebanon earlier 5/1, qualified to the semi-final of the tournament that is hosted in Bahrain,” he said.

BAGHDAD -- Amid political gridlock, endemic corruption, infrastructure breakdowns and persistent violence, ordinary Iraqis often feel that the chaos drowns out their voices. On television and online, however, there's plenty of space to be heard. .................

Iraqis have a saying to compare the dictatorship they lived under before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion with the uncertainty they now face:

The last final destination of Noah’s Ark spurred disputes between the KRG delegates to the international inter-religious forum currently held in Najaf city and Shiite clerics.

Speaking during the first day of the forum citing his research, Shiite cleric and intellectual Allama Sami Badri known for being expert in Shiite Islamic sciences, said that the Noah’s Ark landed in a site nearby Najaf city, leading to the re-appearance of human beings in Najaf.

In response, the head of Kurdistan Islamic Scholars Union, Abdulla Mala Saeed, said, also citing his research, that the Noah’s Ark landed on Mount Judi in the northern Kurdistan, present-day Turkish Kurdistan.

But the Shiite clerics attended the forum gave no more comments on the response made by Abdulla Mala Saeed.